EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – Happy Monday, all and belatedMother’s Day wishes to the moms of all of my fellow MTM staffers and to their partners/wives if they are moms also. I was gonna talk about the NFL schedule released last week but decided I could likely stretch into a 4 part-er so I will save that for next week. This week, I want to look at the big question of when sports will return and the changes in NCAA Recruiting, both good and bad.

North American Sports

When will Sports Return – I just read that the UK government has approved the English Premier League to return after June 1, with games played behind closed doors. I can see the league actually returning based on that. However, here in the US, it is much more complicated. We have some states re-opening but others not and our leagues cover the whole country so just cause Texas teams may be free to train doesn’t mean California teams are. It seems as sense it is a fall sport, football may be in the best position to return but with fans?? No one knows. The owners are desperate for the gate money but how will that be possible when you can’t have a full crowd? Will fans have to wear masks? Will they fine those that don’t? What if you are in a state that frowns on wearing masks?? I just don’t know. I think we are headed for an area of sports without fans in the stands and it may suck for the players and viewing experience but at least the games will be played, which gives us something to watch.

NCAA Recruiting Positives – Apparently College Football and few other sports are seeing positives as a result of COVID-19 shutdown. It seems High School athletes and their families are freaking out regarding the uncertainty of their futures. Not sure when HS when in person classes will happen or graduation, nor when college will open or if their scholarship offers are still good, have decided to commit early. The athletes figure that if the offers are on the table now and you don’t know what will happen, instead of waiting to see if your #1 choice will make an offer, why not take the full ride from another school. This is happening to not just Football but other sports that there is or never really was a pro option like Lacrosse, Gymnastics and etc. Whenever sports does resume, there will be new powerhouses is what this feels like.

NCAA Recruiting Challenges – This came to my attention the other day but then I saw that Alex Antetokounmpo, the younger brother of Giannis, is going to play in Europe after he is done with High School in Wisconsin. I remember another top recruit Jalen Green, chose the G-League over college. College Basketball’s landscape changed as more kids went straight to the pros. Then they tried to use the NBA to help stop this young but legally grown men’s freedom of movement and to work with the must be 19, if you are an American, rule. This lead to more one and dones and even more corruption. Now more and more kids are choosing the G-League, which has upped its signing bonus for kids that chose them over college, as the primary destination. This has forced the NCAA to finally allow college players to make money off their likeness which was a shorter battle than to finally create a system to pay the players.

Junoir Blaber is from Ghana but was transplanted to the Bronx as a young lion chaser. Blaber is the Rain Man of Meet The Matts and is a featured contributor on MTM global partner, Rugby Wrap Up. The name "Junoir" is not a cool African name. Instead, Blaber mis-typed "Junoir" on his Facebook page. But proving that two wrongs indeed do make a right, he embraced his new persona - [June-noire]... Manute Bol is his uncle and his teams are the Mets, Jets, Knicks & NY Rangers... And Manchester United. He knows soccer. [Vomit]. P.s... He has webbed toes and came be followed on Twitter here: @JunoirBlaber